Kukla's Korner Hockey

(Colin) Campbell has the NHL’s toughest - and arguably, worst - job. Only the officials are anywhere close. Yes, his rulings are maddeningly inconsistent. Everyone wants tough suspensions, or a crackdown on hits to the head - until it affects their team. But that’s why you have to be above reproach.

He is a polarizing figure. People who like him will defend him without question. People who don’t criticize him mercilessly. He learned a hard lesson here. Be careful what you write. He wasn’t, and, as a result, he’s put his objectivity into question - even if the evidence suggests otherwise.

If any good emerges from the tempest surrounding Campbell Monday, that might be it – eventually take all the discretion out of the supplementary discipline process and make punishment one-size-fits all. You might not get justice in the purest form of the term, but it will take all of the guessing out of the process. And that seems to be what a growing number people want – black-and-white answers to questions where there now exists multiple shades of grey.

Comments

Get a chance to check out the hit posted by Friedman. Holy hell, it was a huge hit.

Posted by
SYF
from the C7.R, flyin' low and feelin' mean on 11/15/10 at 09:45 PM ET

If we’re to believe the NHL, Campbell doesn’t have any say in incidents involving his son or his son’s team. As a result, Friedman’s usage of the Ott and Richards hits as evidence that Campbell isn’t biased are entirely meaningless.

I don’t think Campbell said anything in those emails that most of us would’ve if we were watching our son play hockey. That’s not the problem, in and of itself.

The problem is that the NHL would even employ someone in Campbell’s position that has the ties throughout the hockey world that he does. How can anyone realistically expect him to be impartial?

Nevermind that he plain old sucks at his job. I mean, he’s literally terrible at it. And he’s never been good. Shitty player, shitty assistant coach, shitty head coach. And good thing he hasn’t gotten one of the GM jobs he’s openly coveted for many years… the last thing we need is him flushing a franchise down the drain with mismanagement.

He learned a hard lesson here. Be careful what you write. He wasn’t, and, as a result, he’s put his objectivity into question - even if the evidence suggests otherwise.

The fact that a respected member of the hockey media whose job is ostensibly keeping these guys honest thinks that this, of all things, is the lesson to be learned really tells you all you need to know about the mainstream hockey media.

God, what a bunch of unrepentant jock sniffers with daddy issues these people are.

Both mainstream journalists in the links seemed like they were just writing the story because they felt they had to address it. I couldn’t tell if they were just minimizing the story because they got scooped by a blogger, or if they did not want to upset their relationship with their connections. It sure did not seem as if they were just objectively presenting the facts, though.